The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation - Softcover

Mortimer, Ian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1844135306 ISBN 13: 9781844135301

Publisher: Pimlico, 2007

Synopsis

He ordered his uncle to be beheaded; he usurped his father's throne; he taxed his people more than any other previous king, and he started a war which lasted for more than a hundred years. Yet for centuries Edward III (1327-77) was celebrated as the most brilliant of all English monarchs. In this first full study of his character and life, Ian Mortimer shows how under Edward the feudal kingdom of England became a highly organised nation, capable of raising large revenues and deploying a new type of projectile-based warfare, culminating in the crushing victory over the French at Crecy. Yet under his rule England also experienced its longest period of domestic peace in the middle ages, giving rise to a massive increase of the nation's wealth through the wool trade, with huge consequences for society, art and architecture. It is to Edward that England owes its system of parliamentary representation, its local justice system, its national flag and the recognition of English as the language of the nation. Nineteenth century historians saw in Edward the opportunity to decry a warmonger, and painted him as a self-seeking, rapacious, tax-gathering conqueror. Yet as this book shows, beneath the strong warrior king was a compassionate, conscientious and often merciful man - resolute yet devoted to his wife, friends and family. He emerges as a strikingly modern figure, to whom many will be able to relate - the father of both the English people and the English nation.

About this title

Review:

"Ian Mortimer does not disappoint. This is an old-style thumping yarn, full of blood and thunder, heroism and adulation." (Jonathan Sumption Spectator)

"This is a story which - for its boldness of interpretation, success of evoking this vanished medieval world, and sheer narrative elan - deserves to be widely read." (John Adamson The Sunday Times)

"Mortimer...writes with enthusiasm and real knowledge... He can write an excellent narrative account of a battle." (Richard Barber Literary Review)

"This is an excellent biography; entertaining as well as informative." (Allan Massie Daily Telegraph)

"A fascinating portrait. At times, the reader seems almost able to reach across time and touch this man." (The Economist)

From the Publisher:

King for 50 years (1327-77), Edward III - like Elizabeth and Victoria after him - embodied the values of his age. He re-made England and forged a nation out of war.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pimlico
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1844135306
• ISBN 13: 9781844135301
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 560